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Journal: |
I discovered after I went to bed last night around 9pm, that
apparently a TV had been produced in the restaurant, which was
directly below my bed, so people could watch the Germany vs Greece
European Champs quarter-final. I was woken each time Germany
scored a goal by the roar from under my bed but, to their credit,
everybody came to bed quietly after the game. The hut had
really filled up with late arrivals and there were probably 40
people of both genders and all ages in my dorm when I woke.
But everybody operates quietly, purposefully and cordially and
everybody gets fed between 7am and 8am and is ready to hit the trail
soon after.
I found myself about 100m behind a group of eight
for the ascent to the saddle, Bokkarscharte (2149m), and didn't push
my pace, not wanting to make them let me pass. There were a
few steep snowfields to cross, but nothing as bad as yesterday.
There were some wild mountain goats (or similar) visible on the
higher slopes. Over the saddle, where I passed the group who
had stopped for a break, there was a steep technical descent on
loose rock with wire cable bolted to the rock face for security.
I had descended slowly and with difficulty for about 20 minutes when
I noticed two of the group sliding down the huge snowfield to my
right. It was steep and they were going quite quickly, but the
gradient lessened further down and it was quite safe. Not all
of them slid, but the rest sort of skated down the snow.
Suitably chastened, I made my way slowly across to the snow and
walked down the hill, now about 200m behind my colleagues.
I
knew I had to turn right at a track junction at some point, but
never saw any signposts and assumed the slow speed of travel meant I
still had some way to go. The trail was technically
challenging in many places as it worked it's way across a steep rock
face. I had to use my hands to ascend and descend some tricky
bits and also the wire cables where they existed. It was slow
work before I eventually reached another saddle where I expected my
turn-off to be. Alas, no sign pointing to where I wanted to
go. The group arrived and we chatted briefly and they started
having an early lunch nearby. I consulted my map closely and
finally worked out that I had missed my junction somewhere near the
bottom of the long snow slide. Curses! I did not want to
retrace my steps to the junction I missed and could see a faint
trail heading down from where I was now right across the valley
towards where I wanted to be. It wasn't on the map, but I
decided that, given the clear conditions, it was worth trying.
Although difficult in places, it did turn out to be the best
solution and I found myself back on the trail I wanted about 90
minutes behind where I should have been. However, the
remaining 20km for the day was primarily along forestry and back
roads and relatively level so it wasn't too bad a situation. I
had lunch by the side of the road and raging river in a huge valley
that I seemed to have all to myself. I refilled my water
bottle at a spring, put my iPod on and set out down the valley.
It was another 90 minutes before I saw my first human. The
river bed was very wide and rocky, with the milky green rushing
glacial melt water winding a course through the grey rocks.
The valley walls climbed steeply, covered in conifer forest on the
lower slopes, with the towering rocky mountains above that. It
reminded me of parts of Alaska.
The walk wasn't too bad and I
encountered a couple of more people before joining a road near a
river crossing and then civilization appeared in earnest as I
followed the very wide and glacial Lech River downstream. The
road I was on obviously was part of a popular bike circuit and for
the next 90 minutes I was passed in both directions by people of all
shapes and sizes on bikes of all descriptions. It was
relatively flat, passing through magnificent scenery, so was an
ideal recreational bike route.
I finally reached Weissenbach,
my goal for the day, soon after 4:30pm, earlier than expected.
However, being a Saturday night, I was half expecting to have to get
a bus to a larger town and checked the timetable at the first bus
stop I passed. In the village, the first Pension I tried was
full, but they gave me directions to another about 500m away where
they said there were rooms available. I arrived there as a
bunch of touring cyclists checked in, but the manageress still had a
room for me, which turned out to be an apartment, at a reasonable
price. I noticed a shop open in the village as I came through
so I returned for some supplies, including some disposable razors
which I used after dinner to remove my untidy beard, but leaving my
moustache. I still need a haircut. Sadly, no wi-fi
again.
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